Save the Ducklings

Sneak a little addition and counting practice in with this creative game! Your kindergartener or first grader will love trying to save all of the ducklings from the trap! Add up the total when you roll the dice and count out those ducklings. Hopefully, they will be safe in your hands!

“Save the Ducklings” is an engaging way to work on counting and addition with your child.  He will want to play over and over again!

Skills:

• Counting
• Simple addition

What You Need:

• Two standard dice
• Game Board (Print this out.)
• 30 counters (e.g. beans, pennies) for each player

What You Do:

1. Give each player 30 counters to start with. Each counter represents one duckling. Place the “trap” (game board) in the center of the group.
2. Players take turns rolling the dice. Players add the dice together. Then, they place that number of “ducklings” (counters) on the corresponding cell. (Let’s say they rolled a 3 and 5, which equal 8. They will place 8 ducklings in cell 8.)
3. If a player rolls a number that corresponds to a cell on the game board that already has ducklings on it, the player takes the ducklings on that cell for themselves and rolls again.
4. Box 7 is the “solitary cell.” If a player rolls a 7, they must always add 7 more counters to this space, even if there are already ducklings there.
5. If a player rolls a total of 2 or 12, they may collect all of the ducklings in the trap (game board), including those in section 7. They also receive another turn. However, if they roll a 2 or 12 on their second turn, they must place ducklings in every cell (77 ducklings in all).
6. If a player loses all of their ducklings, they must drop out of the game.
7. Play continues until time is called, or until only one person remains in the game. The player who has saved the most ducklings wins.

Variations:

• Simplify the rules. Ignore instructions 4 and 5.
• Instead of players dropping out when they have lost all of their ducklings, allow them to continue taking turns until they can collect ducklings. Set a time limit (e.g. 5 minutes) to find the winner.